There's been a positive reaction to the news that the Duke of Cambridge is to train as a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

When five year old Ruby Salter, from Eye in Suffolk, fell into a glass door she severed an artery in her arm and lost a large amount of blood. Her mother, Sally, says the crew of the air ambulance that transported her to hospital for emergency surgery did an amazing job.

William will need to do five months of training before joining the air ambulance crew. His main duties will involve flying an EC145 T2 aircraft and working alongside medics to respond to emergencies ranging from road accidents to heart attacks.

He's used to this sort of work though. He's a qualified Sea King helicopter pilot who ended his service in RAF Search and Rescue last September and was involed in 150 rescue operations. But there are some differences in the way the services work according to MAGPAS helimedix pilot, Craig Redman.

If the Duke of Cambridge completes all his training he should be ready to fly in the Spring.

The Duke of Cambridge is to become a full-time student studying agricultural management for 10 weeks at Cambridge University, Kensington Palace has said.

Prince William will learn about the issues facing the UK's rural communities and the farming industry during the course, which begins next week.

The Duke's studies will give him a good grounding for his future role running the Duchy of Cornwall, a portfolio of land, property and investments he will inherit from his father the Prince of Wales when Charles becomes king.

Speaking about the course, a Kensington Palace spokesman said the Duke was "very much looking forward to it".

William's studies are a bespoke course run by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), an institution within Cambridge University's School of Technology, which has the Prince of Wales as its patron.

The Kensington Palace spokesman said: "The executive education programme of seminars, lectures and meetings will draw on the strengths of academics across the university. It will start in early January and run until mid-March.

"The course has been designed to help provide the Duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the United Kingdom."

The Duke will have 18 to 20 hours of lectures, seminars and meetings a week and is likely to have essays to complete and to make field trips.

He is expected to live in Cambridge part of the time during his studies as he will have accommodation within the city, but will still carry out a number of royal engagements over the coming months.

The costs for the course will be met privately.

The programme does not lead to a formal qualification but is thought to feature continual assessment.

William gave up operational duties with the air force in September after completing a three-year tour as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.

The second in line to the throne is in a transitional period and is considering options for his public service.